merrion street

At its meeting yesterday, the Government approved the appointment of Mrs Jacqui McCrum to the post of Secretary General of the Department of Defence with effect from 24th August, 2020, on the retirement of Mr. Maurice Quinn.

Mrs McCrum is currently Deputy Secretary in the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Prior to that she was the Director General and Accounting Officer in the Office of the Ombudsman, Offices of the Information Commissioner and Commissioner for Environmental Information, Standards in Public Office Commission, Referendum Commission and Commission for Public Service Appointments. She also held the position of Deputy Financial Services Ombudsman. The majority of her career was in financial services in London and Dublin. She lives in North Co Dublin, married to Maurice with two children, Cameron and Freya.

On the appointment of Mrs McCrum, the Minister for Defence, Mr Simon Coveney T.D., stated

I welcome the appointment of Jacqui as the new Secretary General of the Department of Defence and indeed the first female Secretary General of the Department. I look forward to working closely with her in addressing key challenges facing the Defence Organisation. .

In accordance with the TLAC arrangements for Secretaries General, Mrs McCrum’s appointment is for a 7 year term.

Speaking in relation to the current Secretary General, Mr. Maurice Quinn, the Minister said

The State is indebted to Maurice Quinn for his unstinting service through an extensive career in the best traditions of the Public Service. I worked closely with Maurice in my last appointment as Minister for Defence and, on the announcement of his successor today, I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his outstanding public service, and for his dedication, drive and commitment to the achievement of results in the Defence sphere. Maurice has been a key instigator of change in Defence through the 2015 White Paper, on which we worked closely, and also on the modernisation and transformation agenda for the Civil Service more generally. I wish him and his family well for the future.